Rich Dairy-Free Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Butter “Chips”

Whenever someone says dairy-free ice cream isn’t rich enough, I simply point them to this Peanut Butter Ice Cream. It gets a double dose of creamy from the peanut butter and the coconut milk, two flavors that blend seamlessly. To add indulgence to the indulgence, I swirl Peanut Butter Chunks into the luscious ice cream. These chunks are a thicker and softer version of the Peanut Butter “Chips” from my book, Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook.

The “Chips” are fairly firm and would probably be teeth-breakers in ice cream, so I altered the original recipe to still be relatively firm yet forgiving in the ice cream. Amazingly, this recipe is not only dairy-free, but it is also soy-free, vegan, gluten-free, and free of refined sugars! Lets just call it healthy too, so that you can enjoy it for breakfast, shall we?

Reader Raves

Katie whipped up this ice cream and let us know what she thought: “I made this tonight and upped the peanut butter to 1/2 cup and added mini chocolate chips instead of the peanut butter pieces… Soooo good and so easy compared to dairy based ice creams!”

Amy had success without an ice cream maker: “I put it in a metal cake pan and froze. It turned out great. Very peanut buttery!”

1 14-oz can whole or light coconut milk (I used whole – whoa rich! Light would tone it down a bit and mellow the coconut flavor)

⅓ cup creamy peanut butter (or to taste, I used lightly salted)

⅓ cup agave nectar, maple syrup, brown sugar, or honey* (or to taste)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 batch dairy-free Peanut Butter Chunks (recipe below)

Instructions

Combine the coconut milk, peanut butter, agave (see note below for honey), and vanilla in your blender, and blend until smooth. Place the mixture in your refrigerator and allow it to thoroughly chill before proceeding. Use this time to make sure the canister of your ice cream maker has been thoroughly chilled in the freezer, and that the container you will pack the ice cream in for keeping is also chilled.

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions (this recipe is rich enough, that you may have success simply freezing it and stirring occasionally until frozen if you don’t have an ice cream maker).

While that is whirring away, make the PB chunks. The recipe below makes a lotta chunks. If you want to start with less, half it.

When the ice cream is done, pack it into your chilled container, and drizzle the top with as much of the melted PB Chunks as you desire, creating a thin or thick layer. Freeze until mostly firm. The PB chunk layer will be solidified, break it up with a spoon and stir into the peanut butter ice cream. Freeze until completely firm. Spoon into bowls, enjoy.

Notes

* If using honey, you will need to heat the mixture slowly in a saucepan until the honey dissolves. Unlike agave, honey is a bit temperamental about dissolving in cold liquids.

This was so yummy! I didn’t have light coconut milk, so I used half regular unsweetened canned coconut milk and half unsweetened chocolate almond milk. It was still rich and creamy. My son and I loved the peanut butter chunks. Thank you for this recipe. It is a keeper! Stacey